Stolen Life
by Death Eater Bella
Summary: City 17 Train Station: Where people arrive and never leave and then some who never arrive at all. What happens to the woman who looses her reason to live?


_This was set in the beginning of the chapter 'Point Insertion' at the City 17 train station where the woman is standing by the gate talking about her husband…Hope you enjoy it!_

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**Stolen Life**

My hands dug into the cold metal of the wire fence as I stared into the empty space of the City 17 train station. Three weeks I had been standing here waiting for my husband, three weeks waiting for the train that never seemed to come. Despite the short time, it felt as though it were years; Time passed slowly when you were waiting for the only thing that made your life worth living.

"Michael…" I whispered his name softly as I sighed. I had not seen my husband ever since the Overwatch boarded our train in the woods. They forced their way into our carriage and took Michael; saying they wanted him in for questioning…

I clutched at the metal wire, the sharp edges digging deeper into my hands; it was all I could do to stop myself from bursting into tears and startling the already depressed people that were trickling their way through the turnstile nearest to me.

_Questioning??_ I thought, _what on earth, or any other planet for that matter, did they need to question my Michael for? He wasn't anybody special except to me!_ I gripped the wire even tighter as I struggled to withhold the impending tears; I let out gasp as the wire sliced into my hand; blood trickling down my arm.

Hope filled me as I heard the sound of a train pulling into the station. Michael _had_ to be on the train, he had to be! I watched and waiting patiently behind the fence waiting for the people to come out and walk towards me. My heart, my spirit, my will to live fell as only three people walked off the train._ Three!_ Every day there had been less and less people. I wanted to ask someone if they had seen Michael and I almost lost my nerve until I saw a man walking towards me with dark rimmed glasses, a goatee and beard; he struck me as someone who could help me, in spite of all our desperate situations.

"Excuse me!" I called out, "Was that all of you on that train?" He looked at me a moment then nodded. I turned my eyes to the floor still holding onto the wire as though it was my lifeline. "They took my husband on our way here; the Overwatch boarded the train and took him in for questioning." The young man nodded as he stood by listening to my story. "They told me he would be on the next train down…that was three weeks ago." The man nodded again and slowly walked away.

_At least they were nice enough to let me stay here and wait for him…_ I thought in a rare moment of optimism.

I sighed deeply as I heard the train pull away, taking with it my hopes of ever seeing Michael alive again. It was only now that I realised that perhaps the Overwatch had lied to me; my fear had blinded me to the memory of Michael's shouts as they dragged him away and of the smirks on the soldiers face as they told me he would be on the next train. A tear slid down my face as I remembered all the friends we had already lost and how many more we were sure to lose. Bitterness filled me as I sat stewing over the deception that had me standing here waiting for the love of my life only to realise that he was never coming. I found myself filled with anger instead of the grief and sadness that had consumed me for so long. They had taken away my will to live, my sense of self-preservation; I ran out of the building as fast as I could right out into the open square where the awesome height of the Citadel towered over everything. It caught my breath for a moment as I stopped staring up at its magnificent height before I dashed down the steps, brushing past the man who I was speaking to earlier. He looked as though he was going to stop me as I continued on towards the Citadel gates where the Civil Protection stood guarding it.

Nothing was going to stop me now; I hadn't felt this alive since Michael was taken from me. This was my chance to avenge his senseless death, to take back a bit of the life they had so carelessly stolen from me.

"Citizen, stop!" the Civil Protection officer barked out as I came careening around the corner towards him. I skidded to a halt in front of him, holding my chin up high and I stared him defiantly in his eyes, which I could barely make out through the mask.

"Where's Michael?" I demanded recklessly, "You promised he would be right behind me! You lied!" I shouted more in the direction of the citadel past the gates rather than the officer in front of me. Two other officers who stood near by had unhooked their stun sticks and were making their way over to me. For the first time in as many years as I could remember, I wasn't overrun by fear; nothing was going to make me back down now. A new defiance seemed to have awoken in me; there was something perhaps about the young man with the glasses who I was speaking to earlier which gave me the confidence to finally break free. Nothing was going to get in my way now.

"Citizen! Back down immediately!" He responded as he also withdrew his stun stick, lighting it. The sizzle of three stun sticks burning the air caused me to take a step back. I took a deep breath as my adrenalin started to wear off; I closed my eyes and thought of Michael, drawing my strength from the belief that I would be with him again soon. I opened my eyes staring straight and the three menacing officers in front of me.

"No, I will not. I will not do a single thing more that you ask of me." Almost without warning as if they were merely waiting for chance to do so, the three stun sticks cam bearing down on me quicker and lightening. Pain clouded my senses as I fell to the ground, barely feeling now the pummelling of the sticks against my skin. I distinctly heard shouts around me of people yelling to stop, the sound then melting into a whirr as the pain overran every sensation and everything fell into blackness. A feeling of peace stole over me as my eyes fluttered closed. I would finally be with Michael again.

-

The small crowd that had gathered fell into silence as they saw the woman's eyes flutter shut and the last bit of fight beaten out of her. The Civil Protection officers dispersed, dragging her body in through the gates of the Citadel for disposal. The man at the back of the crowd removed his glasses and wiped his eyes, surprised to find himself feeling such strong emotion for a total stranger.

_It's still good to know that commitment, love and integrity still were strong traits in the human race, in spite of the Combine's every attempt to stamp it out She will not have died in vein, I will do my best to preserve humanity…… for her._ He thought grimly as he made his way through the city square to find Doctor Kleiner's lab.


End file.
